Artwork by Donata Lazzarini
Curated by Maria Rosa Sossai
Translations Dominic McElwee
Editorial design Michela Palermo
Graphic design intern Alexandra Koleva

128 pages, 16 pages of images
Softcover, 14.4 × 21 cm
Bilingual edition ITA/ENG
ISBN 978 88 947117 76
Printed in Italy, in an edition of 360 copies

Palermo Publishing announces the release of Celibi. Storia di una migrazione botanica / Bachelors: The Story of a Botanical Migration, a new publication by Donata Lazzarini, curated by Maria Rosa Sossai and developed in collaboration with SIMUA – Sistema Museale di Ateneo and the Orto Botanico of the University of Palermo.

The book takes as its point of departure the extraordinary history of Encephalartos woodii, one of the rarest plants in the world. Discovered in South Africa at the end of the nineteenth century, the species is known only through male specimens propagated vegetatively from a single wild plant. With no known female specimen surviving, its continued existence depends entirely on human cultivation and conservation.

Starting from this condition of botanical “bachelorhood,” Lazzarini develops a research project around migration, reproduction, extinction, hybridisation, and the possibilities of continuity beyond conventional biological categories. The journey of E. woodii from South Africa to botanical gardens across the world becomes a way of reflecting on the movement of species and on the complex relationships between human intervention, scientific knowledge, and vegetal life.

Through artistic research, archival and scientific materials, images, and critical contributions, the publication expands the story of a single plant into a broader reflection on biodiversity and conservation. The botanical garden emerges not simply as a place in which endangered species are preserved, but as a living environment where histories of displacement, adaptation, care, and transformation continue to unfold.

Conceived as an extension of Lazzarini’s artistic practice, Celibi considers extinction not only as an ending, but also as a condition from which unexpected forms of continuity, relation, and hybridisation may emerge.

Contributions by
Michelangelo Gruttadauria · Rosario Schicchi · Maria Rosa Sossai · Donata Lazzarini · John Donaldson · Paul Mills · Marco Senaldi · Laura Cinti · Patrick Griffith · Ben Novak · Telmo Pievani · Barbara Baldan · Manlio Speciale · Jens-Christian Svenning · Giuseppina Pisciotta Tosini · Federico Lucariello · Caterina Strafalaci

DONATA LAZZARINI is an Italian artist whose practice moves across sculpture, installation, photography, and research-based projects. Her work investigates the relationships between bodies, natural systems, scientific knowledge, and processes of transformation, often focusing on forms of life that challenge established distinctions between nature and culture, permanence and change.

In collaboration with the Botanical Garden and the University Museum System of the University of Palermo.
The publication is supported by PAC2025 – Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.